4 Benefits of Hiring Contractors

There are a number of benefits to hiring contractors as opposed to permanent employees, ranging from the flexibility it allows, to budgeting. We have been working with a variety of clients to help them attract the best contractors to their business for over 20 years.

Using our experience we have compiled a list of the top benefits of hiring contractors below:

Flexibility

Flexibility is perhaps the most noted benefit of hiring contractors over full time, permanent staff. When there is a temporary requirement for a given skill, a specialist can be brought in until the job is completed, rather than having to employ a permanent member of staff past the time of the requirement for the specific skill. Flexibility can be essential when completing a project such as building a new facility, laying new pipelines, or setting up a new technical system. Once the job is completed then the role is no longer required.

Budget Friendly

When hiring an employee, there are more costs than just hourly or daily rates to consider. Other costs that need to be considered include office or floor space, equipment needed to complete the job at hand, insurance costs and employment benefits. With a contractor, these costs can be budgeted for, or allocated to a project. Often a contractor can supply their own equipment, organise their own insurances and forego benefits and holidays, although a contractor, especially within the engineering sector, will be more costly than a permanent employee. In the long term, contractors can allow you to have the workforce you need for a project, scaling up, then switch off the requirement and save costs when the job scales down.

Reduced Training and On-boarding Costs

When looking to hire a contractor, the candidates that you are selecting from are likely to be skilled workers with years of experience that can be brought straight in to work on a project. With a permanent employee, there may be the chance to mould them to fit within your workplace and its culture, but along with this comes the expense of training the employee. A lengthy onboarding process is often required with employees who are brought in to work with the company on a permanent basis, and it is important that they buy into the business ethos. All of this consumes perhaps the most valuable resource; time. A contractor predominantly works unsupervised, so although they might be initially more expensive, in the long run they can save money on a long term hierarchy.

Instant Impact

Particularly true if hiring through an agency, contractors are pre-checked, meaning that they are already tested to meet the requirement, ready to hit the ground running. Be tactful, but also aware that these employees don’t need the same familiarisation with the workforce that a permanent employee would. Contractors can be introduced to team members and put through some of the formalities of new permanent starters, but they are there first and foremost to complete the job at hand and probably want to get on with that as soon as possible.

If you have a need for a contract based employees, or want to discuss your requirements with one of our team, give us a call on 01925 907000 or email recruit@firstrg.com and we’ll be happy to help you.

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